Author Archives: awilkins

Post war production of Romanian rugs and carpets increased with the construction of large workshops. These rugs and carpets were constructed with a cotton warp and weft with a robust wool pile. The Persian Herati designs closely resembled Tabriz and … Continue reading →

The Jewish arts and crafts movement was founded in Jerusalem Palestine in 1906 and flourished until around 1929. One of the aims was to bring together rug and carpet manufacturing skills from all the main handmade rug and carpet producing … Continue reading →

The famous carpets and rugs of Feraghan have been produced since the mid eighteenth century. Their designs are usually a fine version of the Herati pattern. The Feraghan name is also used for carpets and rugs produced in and around … Continue reading →

Kelim rugs are produced through out the Oriental rug weaving world. These rugs are woven flat similar to a tapestry. They have no pile and are usually reversible. Their designs are mostly geometric in nature and the colouring is similar … Continue reading →

The Caucasian town of Akstafa lies approximately 7 miles north east of Kazakh Azerbaijan. despite being close to the Kazak rug weaving area, these rugs are far closer to Shirvan rugs in structure. The Akstafa rugs are very distinctive in design and are highly … Continue reading →

London is one of the worlds premier centres for old and antique Oriental rugs and carpets. Mainly due to her important ties with Persia and her outposts during the time of the British Empire, in particular India, London soon became … Continue reading →

Originally all dyes used in Oriental rug and carpet weaving were made from animal and vegetable substances. The wild madder root is most often used in rug and carpet production resulting in various shades of red. Blues are obtained from … Continue reading →

The Holy Persian city of Qum lies 97 miles south west of Tehran. Qum has been an important theological centre for Shia Islam since the early sixteenth century. Despite not having a long history of weaving, Qum has secured its … Continue reading →

These rugs are made by a section of the tribe which lives a semi-nomadic life between Shiraz and Kerman. There are two other smaller Afshar groups, one near Bijar and the other near lake Urmia. The Afshar tribe was among … Continue reading →

David Wilkins has been guiding his clients around London’s oriental rug warehouses for over 35 years. Now run by his son Alex, who has been in the business for more than 20 years, we escort our customers around the maze of … Continue reading →